People: Apr. 7, 1986

The fact that he harks back to both World Wars, the Depression and even Edwardian London is not so surprising. Alfred Burin was celebrating his 100th birthday, after all. What stirred up the media last week was that he still has a virtually full-time job, making him apparently the oldest working American. For the life of him, though, Burin could not understand all the fuss. Even when his cake at NBC's Today show caught fire, engulfing the centenarian in smoke, he was thinking of his job as chairman of the Globe Shipping Co. in Jersey City. "Such confusion," says Burin of...

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